A relationship is based on many things: Love is the first pillar when starting a relationship, the second one is trust and the third - and the one I personally think is very important in a relationship - is mutual understanding.

Understanding your partners' feelings, doubts, fears, dreams and goals in life is something that many seem to be forgetting and is one of the principle reasons why many couples say: "he/she didn't understand me".

Social studies have indicated that 8 out of 10 relationships or marriages have communication issues such as not being able to understand the needs of their partner.

When confronting a relationship problem, some people tend to ask their friends for advise. In many occasions it is not the best thing to do because a friend will not always be an impartial party.

For married couples, others recommend they attend to a counselor. The counselor will act as an impartial judge and will give guidance to those who ask for it. In many occasions, it also not recommended to see one because there is always a 50% risk that the couple will fix their problems after going to the counselor.

Even some relationships tend to consult their parents when being stuck with this kind of problem. Parents, just like a great number of friends, will almost never be an impartial party, although parents will always give the best advises when confronting these kind of situations.

The best way to end this problem is to: "talk it out", meaning that the relationship or marriage should sit down and talk. For many people, sitting down to listen is very difficult, because of the one little defect that we all share: "we all like to be heard, but we don't like to listen".

Listening to your partners' fears, doubts, dreams, goals, and basically to what he or she has to say is the greatest step that all relationships must make to fix their emotional turmoil. And is the key to coming to an understanding of many things.

In my case, my girlfriend works and studies in college. She barely has any time for herself and little less for me. Everyday when I call her - knowing when she has a little break from everything - I always find her having a hard time to keep up with her college studies. She most of the time is stressed out and sometimes she even snaps at me, not because she's angry at me, but because she needs time to vent her frustration (it doesn't happen all the time though).

This is where the "understanding" comes in place. I tried talking with friends and family members just to hear their opinions. 6 out 10 told me that if she was going to snap at me for no reason, I should end the relationship. The other 4 told me to understand her feelings and try to always be calm and listen to her worries.

Right now we both are having a blast together. I won't deny that it's a bit hard, but it's worth it